Trans Mountain has begun construction in several areas in Alberta. Pipe transport, stringing and assembling has begun in Greater Edmonton (Spread 1) with the first pipe expected to be in the ground before Christmas.
Crews are busy with activities to facilitate pipe installation, including clearing, grading, utility relocation and preparing worksites for the series of trenchless crossings being employed in the Greater Edmonton area.
Trans Mountain will use horizontal directional drilling (HDD) methods in 13 locations along the pipeline right-of-way through Sherwood Park, Strathcona County, Edmonton and Parkland County, Alberta. Trenchless construction allows us to safely cross underneath watercourse crossings, railways, highways, major roads, sensitive environmental areas and in places with restricted workspace, such as some urban areas. They greatly mitigate impact to normal daily activities and traffic circulation patterns, and minimize or eliminate ground disturbance.
Trans Mountain has also begun construction at two of our pump stations in Alberta. Construction crews have been busy clearing, grubbing, grading and installing fencing at these worksite locations to make room for the new facilities. Work at these sites will take place within the existing footprint of our pump stations.
Surveys, staking and environmental studies are underway in Yellowhead (Spread 2), with construction expected to get underway in the coming weeks.
Relocation activities approved by the Canada Energy Regulator independent of the Expansion Project are underway at Edmonton Terminal. Expansion Project work at the terminal will include the installation of temporary infrastructure needed for construction as well as installation of additional temporary access routes into Edmonton Terminal. Four new storage tanks will be installed and four pumps added to the Edmonton Terminal pump station.
On August 22, we officially restarted construction on the Trans Mountain Expansion Project and began work at our Burnaby and Westridge Terminals. To date, Trans Mountain and our contractors have hired more than 2,200 people for the Project, including Indigenous, local and regional workers. This workforce includes heavy equipment operators, trades people, environment and safety roles, engineers and construction managers.
We have received more than half of the pipe needed for construction and are staging it at storage yards along the route. Our contractors have been ordering and receiving equipment, surveying and staking and doing everything possible to be ready to start construction in the other areas as soon as possible.
As part of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, extensive work has been conducted to determine environmental impacts and mitigation measures to reduce those impacts. Our goal is to protect the environment, have as little impact as possible and, where we do have an impact, ensure we return the land to a similar function.
We completed field studies between 2012 and 2018 along the pipeline corridor studying a wide range of environmental features, including wildlife, fisheries, plants, species at risk or species of special status, soils, heritage resources, traditional land use and air and greenhouse gas emissions.
The information and analysis were used to develop our unique Environmental Protection Plans. Mitigation strategies for avoiding or reducing potential environmental effects will be employed at all stages of the Project.
The majority of hiring for the Project will be done by the contractors responsible for building the pipeline and facilities and interested applicants are encouraged to submit resumes directly to the selected contractors for their area of interest.
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